Record-breaking summer brings drought and misery to Balkans region

Wildfires are destroying forests, rivers are being reduced to a trickle, crops are wilting and electricity supplies are running low.

In Macedonia, officials have warned even the supply of drinking water could be in jeopardy.

“The level of water in the lakes and rivers is very low, and it is possible that we’ll be without drinking water,” hydrologist Konstantin Ugrinski warned. “That is why we call on people to use water extremely rationally, only for drinking and washing.”

In Serbia, the Palic Lake in the north has been artificially filled with thousands of gallons of water from a river to save its fish and ecological system.

Hydropower plants in Serbia, Bosnia and Macedonia have scaled down production because of the lack of water, and authorities say electricity will have to be imported.

The record temperatures have ravaged crops, vegetables, fruit, and power production in a region already badly hit by the global economic crisis.

Adding to the troubles are dozens of wildfires, also fuelled by the extreme heat, which have destroyed hundreds of acres of vegetation in Bosnia, Serbia, Croatia and Montenegro. Some on the border between Serbia and Kosovo are beyond control because of old minefields.

Because of the effect on livestock, analysts forecast a sharp increase in the price of meat and milk, adding to the hardship of one of Europe’s poorest regions.

“This year’s damage from drought is 30-80 per cent, in some areas even 100 per cent,” Tihomir Jakovina, Croatia’s agriculture minister, said during a tour of its eastern farmlands.

The region also had a very dry autumn, which emptied the rivers, including the mighty Danube – Europe’s biggest waterway.

Water levels are below those required for safe shipping.

Bulgarian authorities banned ships with large loads from several stretches of the river. Recently, a cruise ship with 100 tourists ran aground in the shallow water.